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Car and Driver
4 days ago
- Automotive
- Car and Driver
1978 Dodge Omni and Plymouth Horizon Test: Borrowing from the Best
From the January 1978 issue of Car and Driver. What you see here is not a VW Rabbit. It may look like a Rabbit and contain some genuine Volkswagen parts, but this car is in fact a Plymouth. The new Horizon and its Dodge twin, the Omni, represent the small-car plunge Chrysler has waited seven years to take. In many ways, the end result justifies the delay. Chrysler has been roundly criticized for not going after Pinto, Vega, and Gremlin business even though corporate officials claim they "went to the brink" year after year to justify a Chrysler subcompact. Each year hard-nosed analysts told them to pass. Americans have never demonstrated a strong taste for chopped or miniaturized big cars, which is really all we've been offered in a domestic label so far. The alternative is an import, and "buying foreign" has been such an attractive proposition that even Ford, Chrysler, and GM stock their small-car shelves from across the water. The Omni and Horizon will scramble this system because they are neither imported nor shrunken big cars. With a transverse-mounted, front-wheel-drive powertrain and highly efficient body, these cars are the state of the small-car art. View Photos Aaron Kiley | Car and Driver You're probably as surprised as we are to see Chrysler leap frog the competition like this. Just when its highly touted image of engineering superiority was starting to tarnish, it jumped GM by a full year and Ford by two years in the race to front-wheel-drive sedans. In truth it wasn't engineering progress, but rather anti-crisis action that boosted Chrysler over the front. Like all the revolutionary engineering programs for 1978, this one was born of Detroit's Doomsday, the winter of 1974. In the grip of an energy crisis and decimated big-car sales, Chrysler had to stretch Christmas holidays to weeks for every employee, and to months for many. Plants were shut down to deflate swelling inventories, whole engineering groups were sent on mandatory leave and operating costs were slashed to the bone. The lights were all but shut out. View Photos Aaron Kiley | Car and Driver As the cataclysm passed and the company recovered from shock, the message was clear. Chrysler's Commandment Number One for future survival had to be a fundamental shift to more efficient automobiles. And without the usual waffling or waiting, here it is. The Omni and Horizon are this company's commitment to the future. Richard Halatek, Chrysler's chief of small-car planning has suggested the name "Phoenix" for the Omni/Horizon program, because it really has risen from the ashes of Chrysler's old cheap-energy attitudes. We can all applaud Rabbit-like cars built in America by a company now prepared to take efficiency seriously, but the Omni and Horizon will begin their lives bearing a strong Wolfsburg imprint. No other car has trespassed so far beyond polite limits of plagiarism. Chrysler's ride and drive engineers have in fact mistaken VW Rabbits for their own prototypes on early test trips. And under the hood, the VW-Audi engine and transaxle casting marks are present for all to see. View Photos Aaron Kiley | Car and Driver The inevitable "not guiltys" that come in reply to these charges are weak. Chrysler planners credit the Rabbit's shape and layout as the one best suited to maximum efficiency in a four-passenger car. They feel that Omni and Horizon styling has been determined by function—four sitting comfortably erect with plenty of room for themselves and their luggage behind—rather than by artistic whim. Giugiaro, who created the Rabbit's crisp lines, must be a little piqued by such a Xerox of his ideas, but it is inevitable that cars of this type from every manufacturer will soon be moving our families. While Chrysler doesn't seem to mind a short ride on the Rabbit's reputation for initial impressions, that is where the similarity ends. The Omni and Horizon are American cars, and even though they're the smallest thing Chrysler has ever built, they are meant to deliver a full measure of what this company believes Americans prize most: ride and comfort. This means adjustments of the Rabbit blueprint amounting to a 4.7-inch longer wheelbase, 9.5 inches more length, 2.8 inches more width and roughly 200 pounds more weight. (Just to complete the longer, lower, wider triad, the roof is lower than a Rabbit's by 2.1 inches.) The longer wheelbase and heavier weight smooth out ride motions and the bigger exterior dimensions pay off in more interior room. However, the roominess advantages over a Rabbit are modest (about an inch in most important dimensions) when compared to the exterior's swelling. View Photos Aaron Kiley | Car and Driver At least the EPA is convinced. Its index of interior roominess measurements have classified the Omni and Horizon as "compacts," while VW Rabbits, Honda Accords, and Ford Fiestas are one size down as "subcompacts." The prototype cars we have driven did not offer a satisfactory basis for final ride judgments, but they did demonstrate exactly what Chrysler engineers are after. Extra-long wheel travel (6.6 inches in front, 7.7 inches in back, compared to 6.1 and 7.9 inches respectively in a Rabbit) is this car's claim to fame, even though such an attribute is rare in American cars. The long travel theory of suspension design allows soft spring rates for absorbing little bumps, with less likelihood of bottoming out over big bumps. Body roll is managed by front and rear anti-sway bars. This is a typically European approach, but while VW or Fiat would finish the job with tight damping, Chrysler has chosen very low shock-absorber control. This lessens the influence of small bumps on comfort but also makes the car slow to settle after wavy pavement. On fast steering maneuvers, the Omni and Horizon react in a lazy fashion—they're still zigging when you're ready to zag. The idea here is not to make former VW owners feel at home, but rather former big-car owners, who might be ready for more efficient transportation. View Photos Aaron Kiley | Car and Driver They will be asked to bear few sacrifices. The options sheet is fat with goodies new to this size car. In spite of the engineers' best recommendations, power steering is at the top of the extra-cost list. It's not at all necessary from a functional standpoint, but the marketing types had no desire to cold turkey their power-assist addicts. Inside, there has been no skimping—no exposed heaters, no bare metal panels, no rubber floor mats—and this should tell you the Omni and Horizon start out at import-deluxe levels of trim. How far you take them in the luxo-garnish-molding direction is limited primarily by your imagination. You can pick from two upgrades of interior and exterior trim, outside woodgrain, or even premium outside woodgrain. Vinyl bucket seats are standard, but you may choose from five other vinyl, or cloth and vinyl combinations in two different backrest designs. Cut-pile carpeting is standard with all interiors. View Photos Aaron Kiley | Car and Driver The overall impression is plenty of comfort but less quality than most imports have built their reputations on. Again, we'd rather wait for real cars for final assessments, but daily contact items like door handles and controls seems a little rough around the edges. The outside door latch looks like a pull will open it, but instead it takes a squeeze. The parcel shelf requires an awkward two-handed maneuver to release. And rear lift-over is the highest of any car in this class. It is weak detail execution that reveals Chrysler as a newcomer to little-car business. Four-cylinder engines are also new to Chrysler (the last domestic-built one came in 1932 Plymouths), but even so, the new four-banger seems right at home in the Omni and Horizon. Very little vibration shakes through, and in normal cruising, the 40-pound blanket of sound insulation is worth its weight in quietness. We measured a noise level of 75.0 decibels at 70 mph, exactly what we've found in both the VW Rabbit and Honda Accord. At full throttle, the Omni/Horizon does blast through a loud, resonant voice at 85.0 decibels, compared with the Honda's 84.0 decibels and 77.0 decibels in the Rabbit. Everything you feel, see or hear while driving reflects the Chrysler touch, so every sensation after the first glance reinforces the Omni/Horizon's made-in-America label. Everything, that is, but a close inspection of the parts. The big bought-out item is the powertrain. Volkswagenwerk AG will ship assembled short block, cylinder head, and four-speed transaxle assemblies to Chrysler's Trenton, Michigan engine plant. There, the American labor force will take over to "dress" engines with external components such as carburetors, ignition, and emissions controls and prepare them for cars that will be screwed together in Chrysler's Belvedere, Illinois assembly plant. View Photos Aaron Kiley | Car and Driver The basic design of the engine is shared with the Rabbit—an in-line four with a belt-driven overhead camshaft and an aluminum non-crossflow cylinder head. While VWs and Audis sharing this engine have shifted to a smaller 1457 cc displacement for 1978, Chrysler has opted for a larger 1710 cc long-stroke version for more torque. (1976–77 Rabbits used a 1588 cc engine.) The larger displacement also helps offset the power lost moving from VW's Bosch fuel injection to the Omni/Horizon's Holley two-barrel carburetor. Power output is a healthy 75 hp at 5600 rpm, making this the highest specific output engine of any car made in America. Chrysler has added one key refinement of its own, a Lean Burn electronic ignition system. While VW supplies Rabbit four-speed manual-shift transaxles for the Omni and Horizon, the optional three-speed automatic is a variation of the ever-popular Chrysler TorqueFlite. Even though Chrysler buys nothing but powertrains from VW, they have "borrowed" a number of chassis design concepts. The front suspension is MacPherson strut with coil springs—just like the Rabbit's—and also features a negative scrub radius layout. (The steering axis intersects the ground outboard of the tire contact patch center. This produces automatic steering forces to maintain straightline stability when traction differs on left and right sides of the car.) The coil spring is purposely not concentric with the strut tube, so bending-induced friction is partially cancelled. Minute VW details such as ball-joint attachments and control-arm pivot connections have also been religiously duplicated by Chrysler. At least when the engineers decided to copy someone else's paper, they picked the brightest kid in the class. View Photos Aaron Kiley | Car and Driver The Omni and Horizon's rear suspension is familiar, although it is neither the Rabbit's "torsion-crank" design nor the Dasher's beam axle/trailing arm configuration. Like the VW Polo (a Honda Civic-sized car not exported to America), Chrysler has chosen a pair of trailing arms linked by a transverse member midway between the suspension's pivot axis and the axle centerline. Really, this layout was chosen more for fuel-tank packaging than any suspension function. Chrysler has dubbed the design "semi-independent," since the transverse member does partially tie together left and right wheel movements. Rear coil springs and shock absorbers are concentric, a common design practice for lightweight rear suspensions. All of this adds up to a driving feel that is clearly aimed more at family use than hard charging. The steering is numb and slow, so you're not likely to provoke a maneuver you can't manage. However, when forced to prove itself, this car does know how to sink its tires into the pavement. We measured a cornering grip of 0.71 g. As long as you keep the power on, understeer limits cornering speed. To make things a little more interesting, you need only lift off the throttle and the car promptly tightens its line. This might help aggressive drivers find their apexes, but it's bound to be a source of surprise to the 55-mph set. Braking is the Omni/Horizon's forte, and here the new little kid on the block can beat every other car Chrysler builds. Stopping distance from 70 is a very short 206 feet. The system is disc-front and drum-rear, with an optional power booster. We found the power assist unnecessary. Without it, pedal effort is 32 pounds at 0.5 g deceleration, about optimum for good control. Part of the excellent braking feel and linearity is a result of Chrysler's choice of leading-and-trailing-shoe (rather than duo-servo) rear brakes. View Photos Aaron Kiley | Car and Driver All sporting intentions have been purposely muted in the Omni and Horizon. But just for now. In time, the five-door body style will be teamed up with a more aggressive three-door. (Just hope it's not a Scirocco duplicate.) An American-built 2200 cc four-cylinder engine is under development and turbocharger rumors have been circulating for months. Chrysler hereby joins the world-car scheme of manufacturing, with a new twist on this increasingly popular approach. Rather than design one car for local construction in many markets, the engineers have shopped around the world for the best parts to bring back home for their new small car. They may be mostly VW underneath, but the Omni and Horizon are undeniably Chrysler's ride to the future. Specifications Specifications 1978 Dodge Omni/Plymouth Horizon Vehicle Type: front-engine, front-wheel-drive, 4-passenger, 4-door hatchback PRICE As Tested: N/A ENGINE SOHC inline-4, iron block and aluminum head, port fuel injection Displacement: 105 in3, 1710 cm3 Power: 75 hp @ 5600 rpm Torque: 90 lb-ft @ 3200 rpm TRANSMISSION 4-speed manual CHASSIS Suspension, F/R: struts/multilink Brakes, F/R: 9.1-in disc/7.9-in drum Tires: FIrestone Deluxe Champion Radial P155/80R-13 DIMENSIONS Wheelbase: 99.2 in Length: 164.8 in Width: 66.2 in Height: 53.4 in Curb Weight: 2170 lb C/D TEST RESULTS 60 mph: 11.7 sec 1/4-Mile: 18.8 sec @ 74 mph 90 mph: 41.9 sec Top Speed (observed): 92 mph Braking, 70–0 mph: 206 ft Roadholding: 0.80 g C/D TESTING EXPLAINED
USA Today
16-02-2025
- Automotive
- USA Today
Saturday Night Live's best car sketches, parodies and fake ads
MotorTrend Staff MotorTrend Saturday Night Live, the comedy sketch show that's on its 50th season, might be more famous for its political parodies, but it has a long, strong history of some hilarious car-related skits and fake ads. With classics popping up throughout the years (SNL's inaugural episode was way back in 1975), there's plenty of material to draw from, and with the show's 50th anniversary special airing this weekend on February 16 (Sunday special), what better time for our staff to highlight some of their favorites? Below you'll find the iconic SNL car sketches that keep our editors in stitches every time they watch: The Adobe I'm (just barely) old enough to remember the cheap-car craze of the mid-1980s, when the $4,995 Hyundai Excel and $3,990 Yugo GV popped onto the market to undercut established junk like the Dodge Omni ($6,209) and Chevrolet Chevette ($5,645). Buyers literally lined up with checkbooks in hand to buy these new cheapies, so just how low would the market go? SNL answered that question with the $179 Adobe, a Mexican import made out of clay. The Adobe's motto — inspired, perhaps, by Lee Iacocca's famous admonition, 'If you can find a better, car, buy it' — was , 'You can buy a cheaper car, but I wouldn't recommend it.' One has to wonder if the genesis of this bit preceded the cheap-car craze. The idea of a clay car wrote its own series of visual gags: Phil Hartman making his own cupholder by smooshing a can of cola into the dash, Nora Dunn having a parking-lot oopsie and making an instant repair by remolding the fender, and a couple off for a tennis game, the backsides of their white clothes soiled with clay. Still, the funniest bit may well be the Adobe itself, which was made from a Renault LeCar. Even combined with the clay in which it was covered, the LeCar might still have been worth less than the Adobe's retail price. This was SNL at its best: A timely lampoon that we can still laugh at today. — Aaron Gold More from MotorTrend:10 of the cheapest Ferraris you can buy Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle. A December to Remember As someone who has always rolled his eyes at Christmas car commercials of surprise new cars with big red bows, it's nice to see SNL take down the whole idea in such a hilarious way. From misunderstood finances to 'aper' (as in, APR, or a loan's annual percentage rate), this Lexus parody commercial is SNL at its best. — Christian Seabaugh Mercury Mistress Younger readers up to and including Millennials have thankfully been mostly spared from this phenomenon, but there was a time when car enthusiasts were more than just obsessed with their vehicles. Frankly, it got a little creepy. Enthusiasts, almost always male, once got so wrapped up in their cars they'd talk about them in ways bordering on the romantic and even sexual, anthropomorphizing their cars to a disturbing degree. This kind of mass hysteria became common enough to merit mockery on Saturday Night Live, giving us the hilarious and disturbing Mercury Mistress fake ad, introducing the world to the car you could literally have sex with (if you were male). Thankfully, changing social norms and ridicule on national television mostly put an end to this, with a late assist from Shania Twain's hit single and diss track "That Don't Impress Me Much." — Scott Evans Winter driving safety:Here's how to gain confidence navigating bad road conditions Royal Deluxe II A car with a ride so smooth, you can circumcise a baby in the back seat! That was the premise of SNL's 1977 ad for the Royal Deluxe II. This was the peak of the Malaise Era, and with horsepower having all but evaporated overnight, car ads of the time were focused on ride quality and interior appointments. In 1973, Mercury ran a commercial showing a Cartier jeweler splitting a $125,000 diamond in the back seat of a Marquis. How do you raise the stakes? Ask your friendly neighborhood mohel. To establish the smooth-ride creds of the Royal Deluxe II (a barely-disguised Mercury Cougar sedan), SNL invites a rabbi to circumcise 8-day-old Benjamin Cantor in the back seat while Garrett Morris navigates the rough roads around Temple Beth Shalom in Little Neck, New York. As Morris darts around various suburban hazards and Dan Ackroyd provides deadpan commentary, the expected hilarity ensues. It's a one-joke bit played to perfection, and while all appears to come out okay, only the adult Mr. Cantor could tell us for sure. – Aaron Gold Toonces the Driving Cat First appearing in 1989, Toonces the driving cat endured as a recurring absurdist sketch over the years. As the name of the skit implies, Toonces is a cat, and somehow it's given the opportunity to drive — encouraging its owner, played by Steve Martin, to convince his character's wife to let the cat take them for a drive. Obviously, Toonces cannot drive, and mayhem ensues. The sketch follows a predictable arc, but between the fake cat driving — and the real cat superimposed in the driver's seat for the credit rolls set to a ridiculous jingle — it's somehow always funny. — Alexander Stoklosa Mercedes-Benz AA-Class Perhaps overlooked when it first aired in 2016, this fake ad for a Mercedes-Benz AA-Class combined believable-enough product placement (it uses, interchangeably, two generations of silver C-Class sedans), real-life Mercedes ad video clips, and plausible vehicle naming (AA-Class? Mercedes makes an actual A-Class...) seems more timely today. That's because the AA-Class represents the latest electric vehicle from Mercedes-Benz... and its innovation, if that's the word, is that it runs on AA-sized batteries. The punchline lands early in this fake spot, which is expertly presented by Julia Louis-Dreyfus, but the continued highlighting of the AA's various "features" go hard in the paint for anyone familiar with EVs and disposable household batteries. Almost in keeping with the ad's backwards-looking battery tech, you can only watch this sketch on NBC's website, linked here. — Alexander Stoklosa Clint Eastwood for Chrysler By now, Super Bowl viewers are almost expecting to see an overly dramatic, pull-at-the-hearstrings, rally-the-patriots, go-America-type ad from Chrysler, Jeep, Ram or Dodge. Sometimes in black and white, sometimes barely even showing a current vehicle from one of those brands' lineups, they're massively expensive ads that tend to run nearly two minutes. There is a clear through-line between Chrysler's "Born of Fire" from 2011, Ram's "Farmer" in 2013, Jeep's 75th-anniversary-celebrating "Portraits" in 2016, and this year's Jeep spot "Owner's Manual." These really kicked into high gear, though, with Chrysler's 2012 "Born of Fire" followup for the Big Game, "Halftime in America." Emerging from its bankruptcy and shotgun wedding with Fiat, just as America was emerging from the financial crisis, the automaker nabbed Clint Eastwood, relatively fresh off his turn starring in the self-directed "Gran Torino", to essentially reprise that role as a gritty, growling elderly person to give the country a sports-themed, Chrysler-sponsored pep talk. SNL skewered the concept beautifully, with a series (here are parts two and three) of pre-taped sketches with Bill Hader playing Eastwood responding to real-life criticisms of the (real) ad, which go increasingly off the rails — and, fittingly, barely even mention Chrysler's products. — Alexander Stoklosa Lincoln Ads What more can we say? Jim Carrey playing Matthew McConaughey as Lincoln's spokesperson? The supercut of these sketches above traces a dead-on impression as it's taken to its ridiculous, McConaughey-y apex. — Alexander Stoklosa
